Dispensing and sealing receptacle

ABSTRACT

A POURING PITCHER FOR SUPPORTING AND DISPENSING FLUENT CONTENTS OF A BAG OF FILM MATERIAL AND FOR CLOSING THE BAG AFTER IT HAS BEEN OPENED AND PART OF THE CONTENTS DISPENSED, COMPRISING A SLOT IN THE WALL OF THE PITCHER OPENING TO   ITS UPPER EDGE INTO WHICH THE OPENED END OF THE BAG CAN BE WEDGED TO EFFECT A CLOSURE.

Sept. 21 1971 w. R. SCHOLLE DISPENSING AND SEALING RECEPTACLE Filed Sept. 5, 1969 United States Patent Ofice 3,606,962 Patented Sept. 21, 1971 3,606,962 DISPENSING AND SEALING RECEPTACLE William R. Scholle, Long Beach, Calif., assignor to Scholle Container Corporation, Northlake, Ill. Filed Sept. 5, 1969, Ser. No. 855,592 Int. Cl. B65d 35/56 US. Cl. 222-105 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pouring pitcher for supporting and dispensing fluent contents of a bag of film material and for closing the bag after it has been opened and part of the contents dispensed, comprising a slot in the wall of the pitcher opening to its upper edge into which the opened end of the bag can be wedged to effect a closure.

This invention relates to the dispensing of fluent materials such as milk and other liquids or powdered or particle material from plastic containers or envelopes in which they area sealed in a manner whereby a portion of the contents may be dispensed and the envelope temporarily reclosed until it is desired to dispense additional contents. The packages of the present invention are composed of thermoplastic film material of one or more plies such as polyethylene and are adapted to be opened by means of pull tabs when they are provided with such tabs, or by snipping off a corner of the bag or envelope by means of scissors.

For holding and dispensing the contents of bags or pouches of such flimsy nature it is required that they be placed in a pitcher for pouring. Once the corner of the bag has been removed either by scissors or by pull tab and the contents partially removed, it is advantageous to reseal the bag.

It is an object of the present invention to provide such resealing means and to accomplish this I provide the pitcher, which may be molded of plastic, with a longitudinal narrow slot opening to its upper edge adjacent to the pouring lip whereby the plastic bag adjacent to its pouring opening can be drawn and wedged into this narrow slot to effect a closure.

The objects of the present invention, its details of construction and economies thereof will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings wherein,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the plastic bag filled with liquid and providing a pull tab for access to the contents.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the upper end of the bag of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 with the pull tab removed to provide an opening in the bag.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the plastic bag of FIG. 1 disposed in a receptacle and with contents being poured from the opening formed therein by removal of the pull tab as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the receptacle or pitcher being provided with a longitudinal slot opening up to its upper lip for gathering together and wedging the upper portion of the bag into the slot as shown in the side elevational view of FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a showing of the bag 10 of FIG. 1 disposed within a receptacle and held in place by slot 20.

FIG. 6 is a perspective and diagrammatic view of the plastic bag such as in FIG. I placed in a rigid receptacle such as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 but with a corner removed by means of a pair of scissors for providing a dispensing opening therein, the opening after a portion of the con tents of the bag having been poured out being adapted to be rescaled by wedging as shown in FIG. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates a plastic envelope or receptacle formed of thermoplastic material such as polyethylene having a longitudinal seal 11 and a transverse upper seal 12 and a transverse bottom seal 13, the bag being filled with liquid material 14. Secured to the bag 10 adjacent the upper sealed edge 12 is the pull tab 15 welded thereto on the downwardly projecting triangular outline seal 16. It will be understood that this outline seal 16 can be of downwardly projecting V-shape or may be entirely sealed rather than in outline seal form. When the bag 10 is placed within the pitcher or receptacle 17, the pull tab 15 is drawn upwardly so as to leave an opening 18 where by the contents 14 can be poured for example into the cup 19.

When a portion of the contents of the bag 10 has been dispensed to the desired amount, the film adjacent the opening 18 is gathered together and wedged into the narrow slot 20 which opens to the upper edge 21 of the pitcher, this slot 20 being desirably positioned adjacent to the pouring lip portion 22 of the pitcher 17. By thus wedging a portion of the flimsy bag 10 within the slot 20 an effective reclosure is obtained so as to keep the contents of the bag sanitary until it is desired to again dispense the contents thereof at which time the material gathered in the slot 20 may be withdrawn therefrom and pouring again carried out as shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a similar bag 10 disposed in the pitcher 17 having a slot 20. In this case, instead of the pull tab shown in FIGS. 1-4, the upper corner of the bag adjacent the pouring lip 22 is merely cut off by means of a scissors extending across the upper seal line 12 in a diagonal manner as shown to provide a pouring opening, so that the contents may be dispensed as shown in FIG. 4. After the contents are partially dispensed the bag may be reclosed by gathering together the portion adjacent the snipped-off corner and wedging it into the slot 20 as previously described.

Although I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the details thereof without departing from its scope.

I claim:

1. A rigid dispensing container consisting of a pitcher adapted for holding a flexible plastic envelope having fluent material contained therein and dispensable through an opening adjacent the top of the flexible envelope, said rigid pitcher being formed with a narrow longitudinal slot opening to the upper edge of the rigid pitcher and adapted to receive therein in wedged closing engagement a portion of the flexible envelope embracing the opening there- 2. A pitcher having a handle and an opposed pouring lip, the pitcher being formed with a narrow longitudinally extending slot opening to the upper edge thereof adjacent said pouring lip and adapted to wedgingly receive therein an opened envelope flexible film material.

3. In combination, a rigid dispensing pitcher holding a flexible plastic envelope having fluent material contained therein and dispensable through an opening adjacent the top of the flexible envelope, said rigid pitcher being formed with a narrow longitudinal slot opening to the upper edge of the rigid pitcher and adapted to receive therein in wedged engagement a portion of the flexible envelope embracing and closing the opening therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Primary Examiner N. L. STACK, JR., Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

